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SOC101 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

EXCELSIOR COLLEGE ASSOCIATE SCHOOL OF LI

SOC101 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIO

FALL I - 8 WEEK 2015

Section All

3 Credits

08/24/2015 to 10/18/2015

Modified 08/03/2015

CONTACT INFORMATION
A short biography, contact information, office hours, course guidelines, etc. for your instructor may be
found in the Instructor Information discussion area in this module.

DESCRIPTION
An introduction to the fundamental concepts and principles of sociology with an emphasis on
sociological perspectives used to explain human social interaction, social groups and social
structures. Topics include the study of the origins of sociology, culture, social institutions, social
inequality and social change. Examples of current issues in American society and abroad will be
used throughout the course. This is a prerequisite for other courses in Sociology.

This is an 8 - week format. If you have experienced 15 - week formats, you can expect the 8 - week
format to be nearly double the workload of a 15 - week format.

Requisites
None
Course Outline:
Introduction to Sociology focuses on the systematic study of human society and study groups and
provides an overview of the major theoretical perspectives and topics.
During this course, students should gain greater understandings regarding:

The sociological perspective and three major theoretical perspective Culture - both material
and nonmaterial - and of enthocentrism

Social science research methodology and the scientific method

The role of deviance and norms in society

Social structure and interactions

The role of family in society

Race, class and gender and how these categories affect various issues, ranging from
unemployment to family relations to education and life chances

OUTCOMES
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1.

Identify and explain the three major theoretical perspectives in sociology: symbolic
interactionism, structural functionalism and conflict theory, and be able to explain each
viewpoint in terms of various topics, such as race, gender, class and social change.

2.

Define culture differentiate between material and nonmaterial culture.

3.

List and describe the basic steps for conducting scientific research and know and discuss the
research methods that sociologists use and the strengths and limitations of each.

4.

Summarize the core concepts of socilogy and recognize and explain the "sociological
imagination" when viewing social phenomena and his/her own life. (Sociology Major Outcome
#1)

5.

Demonstrate an understanding of individual and group differences and alliances and explain
how they may be influenced by race, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, religion and/or
disabilities. (General Education Outcome #13, Goal #5)

MATERIALS
Visit our bookstore for the required books and study materials. Please verify for your specific
term the edition, version and/or copyright date before purchasing course materials.
Text:
Henslin, James M. (2010) Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 11th Ed. Pearson: Boston. ISBN:
10: 0-205-09654-9, ISBN 13: 978-2-205-09654-1
NEW TEXT EDITION EFFECTIVE MAY 2014:
Henslin, James M. (2014) Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 12th Ed. Pearson: Boston.
ISBN: 978-0-205-99164-8

Additional Course Materials:

Websites, Articles and other Resources listed in Modules.
Please remember to complete the Getting Started -- Online Course Orientation for Students if you
have not already.

DELIVERABLES

Click here to view the 8 week Term Schedules.

Click here to view the 15 week Term Schedules.

Course Schedule
Weeks start on Monday,12:01 AM ET and end on Sunday, 11:59 PM ET, US.
Unless otherwise noted, all assigned items are due at the end of the module (by 11:59PM, Sunday).

Week

Week
1

Module & Title

Module 1: Course welcome, student

introductions, the sociological perspective
and major theorists

Reading

Chapter 1

Module 2: Research methods and the

sociological investigation

Additional
Articles
Chapters 2
and 3

Week
3

Module 3: Culture and socialization

Week
4

Module 4: Social structure and groups

Post a short introduction about

yourself in the discussion forum
Watch the assigned short videos

Chapter 5
Week
2

Assignments

Additional
Articles

Chapters 4
and 7

Complete Critical Thinking

Questions: Zimbardo and Miligram
assignment

Complete Culture: Everyone Has

It! assignment

Complete Midterm Exam Chapters

1-7

Chapter 8
Week
5

Module 5: Social deviance

Additional
Articles

Complete Project 1

Week
6

Week
7

Week
8

Chapters 11
and 12
Module 6: Race and gender
Additional
Articles

Complete "Blue Eyes, Brown

Eyes" assignment

Chapters 9
and 10
Module 7: Social class
Additional
Articles
Chapters 16
and 22
Module 8: Families and Social Change
Additional
Articles

EVALUATION

Grade Ranges
A=90-100%
B=80-89%
C=70-79%
D=60-69%
F=below 60%

Breakdown
Discussion Participation
Classwork Assignments

Complete Final Exam Chapters 8 12, 16 & 22

Project 1
Midterm M/C Examination
Midterm Essay Examination
Final M/C Examination
Final Essay Examination

Criteria
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Course Activities:
Before beginning your course work, be sure to review the Excelsior College Guidelines for Online
Interaction (a.k.a. Online Etiquette or "Netiquette"). If you have any questions regarding these
guidelines, please feel free to direct them to your instructor. All student work in this course may be
submitted to plagiarism detection software.
Classwork Assignments - 20%
During three of the eight weeks (weeks 2, 3, & 6), you will receive a homework assignment that will
provide an opportunity to put what you have learned into practice. These assignments will include
essays and videos/slide shows with response questions.

Week 2: Zimbardo Prison Experiment and Milgram videos and critical thinking questions

Week 3: Culture essay

Week 6: "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" video and critical thinking questions

Be sure to submit your project in one WORD document in APA format and place it in the appropriate
assignment dropbox.
For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the writing rubric.
Project 1 - 15%
In week 5, you will have an opportunity to put into action what you've learned about sociological
research, social norms, socialization and/or deviance.

Step 1: Review the research methodology chapter in our textbook (Chap 5.) in order to familiarize
yourself with sociological experiments.
Step 2: Decide which research project you would like to do. Please know that you are to complete
one of these assignments there will be no extra credit for completing both.
Option A: Deviance Experiment
Choose a folkway (a non-essential norm) to violate. Although there are many folkways to pick from,
you may want to consider such options as wearing the other gender's clothing, breaking into song in
a crowded store, talking on a cell phone during a movie, or speaking out in a religious service.
If you have any questions about whether your project "fits" the requirements, please do not hesitate
to ask.
If you are stumped, here are some videos you may find inspirational:

Hilarious Social Norms Project: Violating Personal Space

Social Norm #2
Violation of Social Norm
Violate your chosen folkway and document it with photos, videos, and/or notes. Then, write an essay
that explores the norm you violated, how you felt about violating this norm/being deviant, and the
reactions you received. You may also want to include information about what other people said after
you explained what you were doing (wait for their reactions first!). If you do not receive adequate
reactions in one situation, try again in another.
In your essay, please be sure to analyze the experience and include the theories of deviance
presented in the text.
Please note: This assignment requires you to use your best judgment. In addition to not breaking any
laws, please be conscious of the reactions and possible reactions of others. For instance, if you are
a large, muscular man, you might not want to violate the personal space of a petite woman alone in
an elevator. I strongly suggest you explain to people what is going on after you perform the
experiment.
Option B: Socialization Observation
Using participant observation, choose two specific learning situations that can be observed during
your daily activities, such as a parent teaching a child, a person watching TV, store or restaurant

interactions, or on-the-job training. You must pick two different types of learning situations, and you
must observe these during the assigned week you may not use a memory of something from
weeks or months before.
Write up a detailed description of what you observed and identify the components of culture being
taught and/or learned. You should also detail the agent(s) and stage(s) of socialization and how
these incidents support one of the theories of socialization developed by Jean Piaget, Carol Gilligan,
George H. Mead, Lawrence Kohlberg, or Erik Erikson.
Be sure to submit your project in one WORD document in APA format and place it in the appropriate
assignment dropbox.
For additional information on how your work will be graded, see the writing rubric.
Midterm M/C Examination - 5%
Your Midterm Examination will include multiple choice questions and a series of short
response/essay questions.
The multiple choice exam will be available at 12:01 AM EST on the Monday morning of Module
4 and will close on the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. You will have 1 hour, 40 minutes
to complete the exam once you begin it. You will not be able to open it more than once and you will
not be able to re-visit a question after you submit it. You must complete the exam in one sitting.
Midterm Essay Examination - 10%
Your Midterm Examination will include multiple choice questions and a series of short
response/essay questions.
The short response/essay questions will be available at 12:01 AM EST on the Monday morning
of Module 4 and will close on the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. It is suggested that
you write or print out the essay questions for handy reference as you develop your responses. Each
essay should be approximately 2 pages (500 words) in length, not including references.
Final M/C Examination - 10%
Your Final Examination will include multiple choice questions and a series of short response/essay
questions.
The multiple choice exam will be available at 12:01 AM EST on the Monday morning of Module
8 and will close on the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. You will have 3 hours, 20 minutes
to complete the exam once you begin it. You will not be able to open it more than once and you will
not be able to re-visit a question after you submit it. You must complete the exam in one sitting.
Final Essay Examination - 10%

Your Final Examination will include multiple choice questions and a series of short response/essay
questions.
The short response/essay questions will be available at 12:01 AM EST on the Monday morning
of Module 8 and will close on the following Sunday evening at 11:55 PM EST. It is suggested that
you write or print out the essay questions for handy reference as you develop your responses. Each
essay should be approximately 2 pages (500 words) in length, not including references.
Discussion Participation - 30%
For discussion board postings, I expect students to post at least twice a week in each discussion
board for the week (usually two). At least one posting per discussion board should be independently
generated (not in response to another student's post) and the other post should contribute to a
discussion currently in progress. The first post per discussion question must be posted by
Wednesday, in order to count as being "on time." The rest of the posts are due by the end of the
week (11:59 pm on Sunday).
Postings should be several sentences long and free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
Posting "I agree" is a start, but you also need to explain why.
You will be graded on how well your postings are written, in addition to how they contribute to the
discussion as a whole. You are also expected to integrate what you have learned from the
assignments and readings into your postings and will be graded accordingly. When posting your
discussion comments, it is important that you be both honest and respectful of the ideas and
comments of your fellow students. Please remember that the discussion postings take place in an
open forum. Please refrain from vulgar, racial, sexist or any other remarks or comments that an
individual might deem to be offensive.
While online education classes are asynchronous, they are not correspondence or self-paced.
Although only a portion of students' grades are tied to discussion, participation is MANDATORY.
Students are expected to login and participate at least two times per week, on separate days,
throughout the term.
For additional information on how your work will be graded, please see the discussion rubric.
By registering for a web-based course, you have made a commitment to participate regularly with
your instructor and other students in online discussions. You will be expected to use online course
tools (Discussions and Chat rooms) to interact with your peers and work collaboratively to improve
your understanding of underlying course ideas and issues.
To lessen the risk of losing your work, do not write major discussions directly into a discussion
posting. Instead, compose and check your work in other software (such as Microsoft Word) and then
use the Create Message button and copy and paste your text into the new posting.
FORMATTING AND STYLE FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:

Unless noted in the Syllabus, Excelsior College requires that all papers, projects, charts, etc. be
submitted using the APA writing style.

COURSE POLICIES
School of Liberal Arts Late Policy:

No exams or quizzes will be accepted after the due date.

Discussion posts must be completed within the module where they appear. Late discussion
posts will not receive credit. Instructors may impose additional due dates for initial posts or
responses and assess late penalties accordingly.

All graded assignments (e.g., projects, papers, homework, lab reports) submitted after the
designated due date/time will be assessed a late penalty of five percent per day for the first 5
days (for example, -5 points each day on a 100 point assignment, or -2.5 points each day on
a 50 point assignment). Any assignment submitted after the fifth day will receive a grade of
zero.

No work will be accepted after the final day of the term unless an official course extension
has been granted.

Situations involving extenuating circumstances will be considered at the discretion of the

instructor.

Turnitin.com:
Excelsior College subscribes to Turnitin.com, the world's largest plagiarism-detection service, and
reserves the right to check all student work to verify that it meets the guidelines of this policy.

INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES
COURSE PARTICIPATION:
Weekly course participation is required. Please see the Student Participation Policy for more details.
Instructor Participation
Your instructor will:

Post a welcome message during the first 24 hours of the course.

Schedule real time office hours through the chat room and/or by individual appointment.

Communicate with you through the Blackboard communication tools, including internal
course messaging.

Respond to student communications within two business days.

Log into the course to review and participate at least three different days a week in 15-week
courses, or four different days a week in 8-week courses.

Provide you with formative feedback midway through the course based on work submitted to
that point.

Grade all formative assignments within 7 business days in 15-week courses and 4 business
days in 8-week courses, and will grade final summative work within 5 business days after the
end of the term.

POLICIES
You are responsible for being familiar with all the policies that are related to your activity in this
course. Complete information on Excelsior College policies can be found in the Course Information
area or by visiting www.excelsior.edu/policies.
All student work in this course may be submitted to plagiarism detection software.

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